Georgia ranks fourth in nation for hate groups

by staff Reports - news@newnan.com

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has provided legal support to various factions of the KKK in defense of their First Amendment rights to hold public rallies, parades, and marches, as well as their right to field political candidates.

Georgia is fourth in the nation for the number of hate groups that are actively practicing in the state, according to a recent study by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The SPLC counted 50 active hate groups in the state of Georgia, 939 active hate groups in the United States in 2013 and only organizations and their chapters known to be active during 2013 were included.

Groups such as the Georgia Militia, the Nation of Islam, The National Socialist Movement and the New Black Panther Party, and the New Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, who currently operate in Newnan, were only some of the many groups included in the report.

The SPLC’s list was compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports.

According to the SPLC, hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting or publishing.

Websites appearing to be merely the work of a single individual, rather than the publication of a group, are not included in their list.

The report also noted that because a group is listed, it does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity.

The SPLC defines all hate groups as having beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.